Electric iron



Nov. 21, 1950 c. ERB 2,530,657

ELECTRIC IRON Filed Sept. 7, 1946 INVENTOR. Dale C. Gerber ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1950 ELECTRIC IRON Dale C. Gerber, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application September 7, 1946, Serial No. 695,395

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates in general to electric irons and more particularly to an arrangement for actuating the temperature control dial.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved electric iron. Another object is to provide a temperature control dial and an actuator therefor. A further object is to provide a temperature control dial and an actuator therefor disposed in a relatively cool position remote from the iron body. Another object is'to provide a temperature control dial having temperature markings and which is manually actuated remotely therefrom so that the temperature markings n the control dial are clearly visible to the operator. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in section of the iron;

Figure 2 is a view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a view taken along the line 33 of Figure 1.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed comprises a body I0 and a handle I I. The body I0 includes a sole plate I2, cover shell I3, and a cooling fin I4, the latter being spaced from the top Wall I5 of the cover shell 13. cover shell I3 is an unshown heating element and a thermostat device having a rotatable shaft I6 which projects upwardly through the cover shell I3 and cooling fin I4 in a manner well known in the art.

' The handle II is formed of molded insulation material, for example, a synthetic resin, which is capable of withstanding the highest ironing temperatures. The handle II includes a hand grip provided with a thumb rest 2|, and the hand grip 20 is spaced from the cooling fin It by a front supporting leg 22 and a rear supporting leg 23. The handle I I is attached to the cooling fin I4 by suitable screws II. A portion 24 of the hand grip 2|] extends beyond the rear support 23 and cooperates with the rear end 25 of the cover shell I3 to provide a rest for the iron. Attached to the handle rear support 23 is an electric cord 26 which extends into an unshown chamber within the rear support 23 for connection to unshown leads connected to the heating element and thermostat. Formed in the handle front support 22 is a chamber 28 which, with the unshown rear chamber in the rear support 23, aids in reducing the temperature of the supports 22 and 23. The handle supports 22 and 23 are connected in Within the spaced relation with the cooling fin I4 for passage of cooling air therebetween and through the front chamber 28 and the unshown rear chamber.

The bases of the front and rear supports 22 and 23 have enlarged integral portions 30 and 3| which extend toward the transverse center of the iron body It) and are of an area to overlie the cooling fin I4 to the peripheryv thereof, and each defines an arcuate recess 32 and 33 which cooperate to define an opening 34 in which is disposed a temperature control dial 35 for setting the tem-- peratures at which the thermostat is to operate.

The temperature control dial 33 is formed of molded resin adapted to withstand the ironing temperatures and has a top wall 36 extending to the periphery of the cooling fin I4, and is provided with a depending flange 31 spaced from the cooling fin l i for passage of air therebetween. The central portion of the top wall 36 is provided with an apertured boss 38 in which is molded a sleeve 39 telescoped about the thermostat control shaft 16, and is held in position by means of an unshown set screw extendmg through the boss 38 and sleeve 39 into the channel-shaped portion M on the thermostat shaft I6.

Arranged in a circle along the outer periphery of dial topwall 36 are a plurality of spaced ribs 45, spaced apart as at 43, to provide for passage of air therebetween to cool the ribs 45, whereby the latter provide relatively cool surfaces to the operators hand should the operator desire to manipulate the temperature control dial 35. Arranged along the depending flange 31 of the control dial 35 are spaced teeth 4'! which form continuations of the ribs 43, and the teeth 4! form a gear encircling the depending flange 31. Inscribed upon the top wall 36 interiorly of the ribs d5 are the names of the materials to be ironed, and the proper ironing temperatures for these materials is obtained by registering with an arrow 38 on the base 38 of the handle front support 22.

Mounted within the chamber 28 of the handle front support 22 is an adjusting member provided with a stem portion 19 having at its upper end an adjusting wheel 53 provided with a serrated edge 3i, and a portion of the adjusting wheel 33 projects through a slot 52 so that the wheel Eli may be manipulated by the operator. The adjusting member is mounted in the chamber 28 by a pin having a square end 53 molded into the stem 49 and a circular end 54 rotatably disposed in the hand grip 28, and the opposite end of the stem 49 is provided with a pin having a square portion 53 and a circular portion 56, the

latter being rotatably mounted in the cooling fin l4. Rigidly attached to the square portion 55 of the stem 59 is a gear 51 which is at all times in engagement with a gear 58, a portion of which extends through a slot 6| in the handle base 3%! for engagement with the teeth 4'! on the depending flange 3'! of the temperature control dial 35. And the gear 58 is rotatably mounted in the cooling fin M and the handle support 22 as indicated at 59 and 66, respectively. The adjusting member 50, and gears 57% and 58 are held in assembled relation between the handle H and the cooling fin I4, whereby upon attaching the handle II to the iron body 10, the. pin ends 56 and 59 are rotatably held in the cooling fin I4 and. the.

pin ends 54 and 61"! are rotatably mounted within the handle I I- When it is desired to adjust the ironing tern-- peratures, the operator places his thumb, or one of his fingers on the serrated edge 5| of the wheel 50 and rotates the latter which causes rotation of the gears 51- and 58, resulting in rotation of the temperature control dial 35, and the operator continues to manipulate the wheel 50 until the material desired to be ironed is in register with the arrow 48. If desired, the operator can directly manipulate the temperature control dial 35 by placing the fingers upon the ribs 45, causing the latter to rotate to the desired tempera.- ture setting,

From the foregoing it will be perceived that the arrangement of the temperature-adjusting wheel-50 remotely from the iron bod l0 reduces the temperature of the wheel 50, and also the temperature control dial 35' is of large diameter with respect to the hand grip 2!] so that when the operator's hand is manipulating the wheel 50, the movement of the temperature control dial: 35 and the markings thereon are clearly visible to the operator.

I claim:

1. The combination with an electric iron having a sole plate, a cover shell thereon, and, a thermostat device rotatably associated with said sole plate and located beneath said cover shell and having av shaft projecting upwardly of said shell, of an operating handle for said iron having a. hand grip and a supporting leg, a temperature indicating dial attached to said shaft of said thermostat device and immediately overlying said cover shell, temperature indicating indicia near the rim of said dial said. rim of said temperature indicating dial= being provided with. a. serrated surface above said cover shell and adjacent, said s pporting leg, temperature adjusting means movably mounted in said supporting leg and con nected to said serrated surface of said temperature indicating dial, and means projecting through said supporting leg for manually moving said adjusting means and. thus rotate said temperature indicating dial and its indicia to adjust said thermostat device to the desired temperature.

2. The combination with an. electric iron having a sole plate, a cover shell thereon, and a thermostat device rotatably associated with said sole plate and located beneath said cover shell and having a shaft projecting upwardly of said shell, of. an operating handle for said iron having a hand grip and a front and a rear supporting; 16%;, av temperature indicating dial attached to said shaft of said thermostat device and immediately overlying said cover shell between said legs and sufficiently large in diameter to extend from side to side of said cover shell andfrom said. front leg to said rear leg,, said temperature indicating dial being in major part of heat insulating material to act as a heat barrier between the grip portion of said handle and substantially all, that portion of said cover shell lying between said legs, temperature indicating indicia near the rim of said dial, said temperature indicating indicia. being so postioned to extend laterall of both sides of said. hand grip to be exposed at all times to the View of the operator from above said handgrip, said rim of said temperature indicating dial. being provided with a serrated surface, manually operated temperature adjusting means arranged in said handle front leg and connected to said serrated surface on said temperature indicating dial to rotatev the latter and its indicia to adjust said thermostat device to the desired temperature.

DALE C. GERBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

1,668,617. Vermillion May 8, 1928 2,266,108. Jepson Dec. 16, 1941 2,353,151 Elsenheimel: July 11,1944 2,398,579, Clark et. a1, Apr. 16, 1946 2,439,825 Sparklin Aprl 2.0, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS.

Number (Tountry Date 24,184 Great Britain Sept. 10; 1936 

